The Farm
by starbucksmarano
Summary: Austin Moon is looking for a local summer job. When old Farmer Dawson is looking for an extra hand to help him and his son, Austin steps up and offers to help. Austin thinks it's an easy job with good pay and he can stay out of trouble. But, will all that change when he catches a glance at the farmer's daughter?
1. Farmer Dawson

"_Today we have a scorching 108 degrees her in Miami, Flo_-"

I turned off my ignition to my pickup truck and slid out of the passenger seat. The sign had been up for over 2 weeks and no one had claimed the job. Old Farmer Dawson needed some help on his 52 acre farm and no one was willing to help the poor man. For 45 years, he had worked on the farm with his 2 brothers and his father. Once his father passed away due to a heat stroke, both of his brothers moved away up North to pursue a desperate dairy business and had offered Dawson a 3 way partnership. But the stubborn old man thought he couldn't let his deceased father down, and tried running the farm all to himself. Now all he had was himself and his son, which wasn't enough. He needed 2 extra hands that were strong and able to work till the sun went down. I, Austin Moon was the perfect guy for the job.

I walked up to the screen door with an extra white door closing in behind the first screen door.

"Here goes nothing..."

I knocked aggressively against the white door and stepped back, waiting for the sound of footsteps to signal someone was coming to the door.

"I'll get it!" screeched a tiny, faint voice inside the house. Soon to follow, small footsteps moving fast to answer the door. The white door swung open to reveal a small girl in a pink cowboy hat staring up at me.

"Who are you?" she asked placing a hand on her hip and tapping her scuffed boots against the wooden hardwood floor.

"Um," I cleared my throat, "I Austin Moon. I came here to apply for the helping job on this farm."

"Oh, I'll be right back, mister Austin"

She ran back down the hallway and into a room at the end. I tried to listen what she was saying.

"Daddy, some man wants to apply for the farm job."

"Alright. Be there is a second."

I saw the girl appear from the room and walk back toward me, soon to follow a tall muscular man. When he approached, he looked me up and down before speaking.

"My daughter here tells me you would like to apply for the extra hand on my farm?"

"Em...yes."

He motioned for the little girl to scurry along and motioned for me to come inside. I quickly followed him in and took in the smell of pork roast and mashed potatoes with a faint cinnamon smell of apple cobbler to wrap the meal up like a bow. He led me into a large room that was obviously a kitchen. The "L" shaped counter wrapped around corner to a fridge and a sink cleared of dirty dishes and an oven, turned on and baking the apple cobbler I smelled earlier. We approached a wooden dining table with 6 seats equally spaced out. He pulled out the chair at the end of the table and motioned for me to sit.

"So, tell me a little about yourself mister...uh-"

"Austin-Austin Moon."

"Nice to meet you, Austin. I'm Lester Dawson. So, can I ask you a few questions?"

I nodded and placed my forearms on the table, trying to impress.

"Have you ever worked on a farm?"

"My grandpa used to own a farm, and when he died my older brother took over. I used to help him out everyday, but I didn't get any pay. Now that I am out of high school, money could surely come in handy."

"How old are you, son?"

"19, sir."

"And, are you willing to work from Monday to Friday, sun up to sundown?"

"Thats why I came here, sir"

"Well, Austin. How about you come tomorrow, and show me what skills you have. Then, if you can prove to me that you have the extra hands I need, then you got yourself the job."

"Lester!" Footsteps patted down the stairs and into where we were sitting. An older woman appeared in the doorway, looking flustered. Her messy brown hair cascaded half way past her shoulders, springing every which way in spiral curls. Lester smiled and stood up.

"Austin, this is my wife Penny. Penny, this is Austin. He is interested in the job here on the farm."

He held out her hand and I accepted and shook it lightly. He was so small and looked so fragile. I was scared I was going to break her.

"Nice to meet you, Austin. We were just about to have dinner. Why don't you join us?"

I thought for a moment. I mean I just met them, but they seemed like nice people. And then again, if I get the job I will see them a lot. So why not?

"Sure, I would love to."

Penny smiled and dusted her small hands on the front of her purple apron.

"Why don't you take a seat and rest your feet while I go get dinner started?"

I smiled at her and relaxed a bit. My feet were aching and my stomach had began to eat itself for the lack of food that I had today. The last meal I recalled was my turkey sandwich I made myself back at home at 12:30 this afternoon. It was now almost 7 o'clock, and my turkey sandwich fillings had moved on and made room for more food.

"Kids! Wash up and get ready for dinner!" Penny called from the sink. She was chopping up a cucumber into small even pieces and placing them on a glass plate.

"I hope you like vegetables. Me and my daughters picked them this morning from the garden."

Daughters? I knew she had one because she had answered the door for me earlier. But there must be one more.

"Coming, mama!" I heard the same little girl yell from down the hall. Seconds later, she appeared at the door way and walked over to wash her hands.

"Austin, this is our younger daughter Abby."

She grinned at me, showing she was missing both of her top front teeth. Her cowboy hat had been removed and her now long braided pigtails were exposed.

"Mom!" yelled another voice down the hall. This time it wasn't a female's voice, it was a males. Marching through the door, came a tall, young, muscular man. He was about my height, maybe a bit shorter. And his worn, tan cowboy hat covered his face.

"Alex, I told you to take that hat off when you're inside if the house." Penny walked over and snatched the hat off the boys head and went back to chopping cucumbers.

"Mister Austin, this is my older brother Alex."

I placed my hand out in front of Alex and shook it firmly.

"I guess you're the guy thats gonna help me and my dad on our farm."

"I guess so."

Abby hopped down from her seat and sat in an open chair next to me.

"Have you met my sister yet, Mister Austin?"

"No I ha-"

And thats when it happened.

A girl walked up to the doorframe and leaned against the wall. Her face was sweaty and had a streak of mud running down the left cheek. The jean overalls reached her mid thigh and hung off of one shoulder, exposing parts of her black bra. Brown curls fell down in ringlets around her face from her messy ponytail and stuck to her face with sweat. Her cowgirl boots were covered in mud and were scuffed on the toe. I had never seen a more beautiful girl in my life.

"Austin, I would like you to meet my daughter Ally."


	2. Ally Dawson

ERG I JUST READ THROUGH THE REVIEWS AND YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST:D I smiled reading every single one. There were a few about the grammar mistakes and I accidentally uploaded the wrong version:P It was the unedited version:) But you guys are still the greatest:) I was VERY happy when I saw that you guys enjoyed chapter 1. These few beginning chapters might be a bit boring, but bare with me. I am trying to introduce the characters pretty good before I get started. So I give you CHAPTER 2 OF THE FARM:D

Chapter 2: The Farm

"Austin, this is our daughter Ally"

My eyes met her's. The dark orbs looked as if they were a bowl of chocolate, ready to be devoured.

She kept her gaze, then turned to face her mother.

"Who is this?"

Penny smiled and picked up the plate of cucumbers, carrying them over to the table.

"This is Austin, Austin Moon. He is going to be helping your father out on the farm."

She picked up a cucumber and bit off a piece before speaking again.

"Well Farmer Moon here can get his ass outta MY seat."

My head glanced up to see her shooting daggers at me. So...the farmers daughter has a potty mouth.

"Allyson! There is no need for that kind of language." Penny exclaimed, snatching the half eaten cucumber out of Ally's hand.

Ally rolled her eyes.

"Pardon me, mother. Farmer Moon can get his...butt outta my seat."

I started to get up, but Penny stopped me and patted my shoulder.

"Austin is our guest. He doesn't have to move."

"What the fu-"

"Don't you DARE finish that sentence, missy."

Ally scoffed before aggressively pulling out a chair at the other end of the table and slammed her body onto the wooden seat.

Penny and Abby began placing food on the table along with our drinks. A towering pot filled with pork roast and gravy sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by multiple vegetables and butter rolls. Mashed potatoes to the left, green beans to the right, and fruit salad at the other end.

We all took our seats. I began to reach for a roll, when Abby hit me on the shoulder. I looked up and saw all of their heads bowed and hands linked.

"Dear heavenly Father," Lester began, "we want to thank you for blessing us with this food that you have provided us this evening. Its such a blessing that we are as lucky as we are. And thank you for our guest, Austin Moon,"

I looked up and smiled. I really liked these people. They were already welcoming me.

"We are so blessed to have him. And in your holy name we praise, amen."

I looked up at Abby and smiled.

"NOW you can eat, Mister Austin." she giggled and began to spoon her out some potatoes.

We all began to pass the food around and got our own portions of each kind. I picked up my knife and began to cut through the slice of pork roast. Placing it to the tip of my tongue, I could taste they had been smothered in a thick gravy. Cream of mushroom, sour scream, onions, possibly a few carrots. I placed the whole piece of meat in my mouth and chewed on the tender piece. It was cooked well but, perhaps a little overdone. No big deal, though. It was much better than my mother's cooking. All she could cook were tiny box potatoes and sometimes if she was in a cooking mood, she could whip up a pretty good green bean casserole.

(After dinner)

oOoOoOoOo

"That was an excellent meal, Mrs. Dawson. Its been quite a while since I've had a meal like that."

Penny smiled and turned a light shade of pink. Almost the color of the flowers sitting in the middle of the table.

"Thank you, Austin. I am glad I could please you and your stomach." She giggled before picking up the plates and placing them into the sink.

"Let me help you, Mrs. Dawson."

I mean, it's the least I could do. She just made a hot meal for me, a complete stranger.

"Thats thoughtful of you Austin, but I thi-"

I didn't let her finish. I turned on the sink to make it pour steamy water and gently grabbed the washrag out of her frail hands. She slowly walked away and tapped Ally on the shoulder, who was currently scrolling through her blue iPhone. Ally looked up and placed her phone on top of the table, looking at her mother. They exchanged a few whispers before Penny exited the room and Ally got up from her seat. She walked over to where I was standing and grabbed an extra washrag from the drawer.

"Do you wanna wash or dry?" She brushed the strands of hair that stuck to her face back to the rest of her hair, pulled back in a messy ponytail.

"E-either is fi-fine." Damn you, Austin. Stop acting like an idiot, she is just a girl for God sakes.

She smirked at my actions and picked up a clean, wet plate and dried it. I stood there, gently turning the water off and on and lightly scrubbing the leftover food off of the plates. Her brown orbs drilled hot holes on the side of my head, watching me wash the dishes. We kept a continuous pattern by me washing and her drying in an awkward silence. I whipped the invisible sweat droplet running down my face when she finally spoke up, popping the awkwardness.

"So, Austin...why do you wanna work for my daddy?"

"Um...I need a job, and it looked like a n-nice opportunity."

She stopped drying and placed the plate into a stack with other identical plates.

"Look, Austin-I am sorry I came on kind of strong to you tonight. I normally don't tell our guest to place their asses out of my seat or anything," she started chuckling, "but I need you to understand something. My father isn't as strong as he once was. He needs someone serious and strong to help him. And you can't let him down." her voice began to crack like lost connection to a phone call.

I turned to observe her and studied her face. Her lips formed a pitiful frown and her eyes appeared glassy. Like a church window, having fresh rain drops run down the beautiful masterpiece. She turned and locked her glassy doe eyes on my dark, coal-like ones.

"Too many people have let him down, and I'll be damned to let it happen again. Do you understand me." Her face turned hard and her jaw began to strain. She latched her soft hands onto my shirt collar and, steadied each others gaze on each other perfectly. Almost like I could see right through her.

"Austin... .Understand?"

I nodded and placed my hands on top of her's. But soon enough, she turned away and placed the washrag next to mine.

"It was-nice to meet you, Austin, I, um-guess I will see you tomorrow."

I watched her walk off from our standing position next to the sink, and pushed the chairs back into their place. She quickly walked out of the kitchen, and up the stairs.

"Bye...Ally"

Oh My Gosh. So, I've tried to introduce a sample of Ally's personality. Its only a brief glimpse of her character but I really like how she is proceeded. Don't judge her too quickly because I do plan to develop her as a character through out the series. She will most likely be your favorite character at the end;) I have so much planned for this fanfiction. And please understand this is not one of those fanific series where the characters automatically fall in love. The characters are going to develop a lot before that will happen:D. Let me set something straight, ALLY IS NOT A BITCH! Thats all I can say without giving anything away for what I have in store:) Like I said, her character will develop a lot. Okay:) An update will come soon:P I will try to do them weekly;D


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